Mable: This is a request fic for Mandy. Mandy, I hope you enjoy it! I was rushing to get it finished because I know you requested this about a week ago and I felt bad about taking so long. Anyway, I don't own 9, Enjoy!

Suspicion

One was one who occasionally tended to be obsessive when it involved something suspicious. Perhaps even before he had met most of the Stitchpunks, One had grown to be a paranoid and untrusting Stitchpunk, mostly because he knew the others didn't exactly see him as a saint. Few even respected him as a real Leader and even they could randomly do something that made One think twice about trusting them with anything. To say that Nine was one of the ones he trusted was a question with mixed answers.

Yes, One trusted that he knew Nine's behavior patterns, but these patterns were already unpredictable. Nine went from friendly youth to desperate usurper in seconds so One never allowed himself to get too close or too safe with the younger. However, he did accept him, especially after the Incident and most suspicion died down as life changed to a process of rebuilding what was lost. Relationships, memories, the Sanctuary itself; everything needed to be rebuilt because they had lost every single one of them.

Though One's interest certainly piqued when Nine's normal behavior took a sudden and unpredictable change. It started with the quietness, how Nine seemed to quiet down whenever One entered the room, and became an off trait in which Nine would never look One in the optics. One had used to tag this trait with liars but it was clear that this wasn't the case. He couldn't be a liar as he would still look away even when he said nothing at all. One noticed it and, from the concern of the others, they were noticing it as well.

Then it grew even stranger when One started to notice that Nine was beginning to sleep in rather late during the day. Somewhat concerned, he approached Two at this time, and managed to verbally trip him enough to learn that Nine wasn't getting much sleep at night. That Five had noticed Nine was staying awake late and telling Two. As such, a plan began to formulate in One's head, and he became determined to figure out where exactly Nine was going at night.

He had arranged the plan with Eight before night came, but was somewhat taken aback when it actually happened. It was later than expected when Nine passed his room; so late that One had thought he had decided not to go and had already laid down for bed. Which meant he was not prepared to rush after the other male. He had to, though, as he realized this recent behavior could symbolize a rebellion was in the works. He grabbed his staff and ducked across the hall to Eight's room where he barged inside. "Eight!" He hissed out, "Eight, he is leaving!"

The Guard didn't move and One went to wake him. Upon seeing a tuft of yarn sticking out from under the blankets, One randomly decided that he needed to go alone, and insisted that it was because he knew Eight wouldn't be able to remain quiet on the quest and not because he was somewhat disturbed that Eight and Six were secretly sleeping together. Either way, he heard the lift lowering downwards and knew he didn't have time to waste; if he was going to figure out why nine was acting so strangely then he would have to follow.

He clearly remembered hearing Seven and Nine speak about him the day before. Nine was unsure about something, but Seven was insisting that he go through with it, and that was all One needed to hear to know that something was amiss. Perhaps Seven was cornering Nine into turning against his Leader. If so, One needed to know before it got out of hand, and perhaps there was even a way to talk Nine out of it and, in retort, turn him against Seven. They spent too much time together anyway.

One hurried to bring the lift back up and lower back down again. Only during this time did One realize how annoyingly stressful it was to do so. This was why he needed to bring Eight, but was in no mood to confront his other issues until he got back from this one. He lowered into the Library and followed the dim light being cast off of Nine's Lightstaff in the distance out into the Emptiness. One hoped that he wasn't planning to go far, but Nine didn't seem to be stopping and seemed to recognize exactly where he was heading.

Just because he could see the light from Nine's Lightstaff failed to mean that One could see anywhere in the vicinity around himself and occasionally stumbled over a loose rock as he struggled to catch up to Nine. It was insufferable and One now remembered why he had stopped leaving the Sanctuary. He didn't like the disarray and filth leftover in the outside world. He preferred his Sanctuary; his paradise away from what the War left, and did not feel comfortable outside of it.

Following Nine along he was beginning to also realize that he did not like the thought of Nine, again, going against him. It didn't seem fair; One had been a good enough Leader to him, so why did Nine see the need to rebel? It actually made One feel something that he hadn't in so long. A betrayal that bypassed even when Seven had abandoned the Sanctuary with the twins. One had begun to actually trust Nine at this point. Clearing his mind, he watched as Nine entered a somewhat stable building.

From the front One could tell that it used to be some sort of shop where humans sold wears. From the fallen over mannequins, he also decided that it was clearly a clothing shop. Then his mood turned as he expected to find Nine making something for Seven. That made much more sense; perhaps some sort of ceremonial dress for her to wed him in. One wasn't oblivious, he had noticed how friendly and casual they were being; they were hiding something and a secret marriage seemed the most likely candidate.

As such, One felt surprisingly agitated, annoyed that the relationship between the two was going to the point of this and bluntly strode inside. He caught sight of Nine nearby and backed against the wall so that he wouldn't be seen. Nine lit a candle with a match that was set nearby and sat down on a bed of fabric that he had made. This all signaled that Nine had set the area and had been visiting this place for a while. He then began to lift something, facing the other direction so One couldn't see it, and began to sew.

One was patient enough to watch for a few minutes before deciding to approach. He started across the floor before making a foolish mistake; scolding himself as he kicked over a small spool of thread. Nine's head flipped back and he gasped dramatically, "One?!" One decided to regain compositor, "Yes, it is I." He announced, "Did you expect me to simply ignore that you have been sneaking away at night? I think not." Nine was sputtering, shoving something under the fabric, "I was just- One, this isn't what you think!" he insisted guiltily and One eyed, "Oh it isn't?"

There was a small pause and Nine slowly asked, "How much did you see?" One decided to not answer exactly as, honestly, he had barely seen anything at all, "Enough to know that you are hiding more." One insisted and hoped that Nine would fill in the gaps. Nine exhaled and took the bait, "You're right… I have been hiding something, but I swear that I didn't mean to wake you or anything. That's why I came here to finish up." Apparently Nine though One followed because he woke him and One wasn't yet ready to deny this theory if it meant that it would allow Nine to be more open and honest.

He also noticed something else, "Finish?" He asked in confusion and Nine exhaled before rubbing his head over. "Yeah, it's not finished, but I guess… Since you basically know already…" Nine stood, lifting something with him and turning around; showing exactly what was in his hands. One was shocked at what he was soon showed. There, stretched across Nine's arms, was an expanse of deep red fabric. One recognized it immediately and stared in shock. This was the last thing he was expecting; a gift for Seven, a rebellion uprising, but not this.

"What?" He asked and Nine smiled a little, almost shy smile. "It's not finished, I haven't replaced the jewel, but it's your cape." Then he approached, "Want to try it on?" He suggested and One surprisingly reached out and touched the fabric, "Where did you find…?" Nine was smiling wider every second and slipped behind the Leader, "Here." He spoke as he slipped it over One's shoulders. One allowed him to do so. While he wouldn't admit to trusting Nine, something about his hands actually being on him, in such a friendly gesture, made One suddenly want to trust Nine oddly enough.

Just the feeling of having someone actually willing to touch him, especially Nine, caused One to let his body relax a bit more than he expected. The cape was softer than his old one and Nine clearly took effort in making it look exactly like it. There was a snap to clasp it together that Nine did, "Once I get the jewel I'm going to put it here…" Then started to brush the cape off, "I, uh, I didn't expect you to find out about this yet." All the Leader could mutter was, "Why?" Nine shrugged, "I sort of wanted it to be a surprise." One corrected, "I meant, why did you make this?"

There was still a suggestion that Nine was using this to buy One's acceptance for something else, but Nine merely shrugged again. "I sort of owed you one… And I… Well… I haven't treated you the best as I could have, since you're our Leader and all." This didn't sound like normal Nine and One was now suspicious. "You are keeping something from me. Your answer does not make sense with all this effort you have given." There was a strange quietness. Nine stopped moving and One only then realized that they were completely alone. It was just Nine and him, and his mind was running wild.

All of the solutions to why Nine was doing this ran until he was met with an unbelievable solution. He pushed it away instantly and waited for an answer. Eventually Nine answered, "I just wanted to give you something that I knew you'd enjoy, and I knew you wanted your cape back." He smiled a bit more and those edging thoughts slipped back into his head. It sounded as though Nine was suggesting something unthinkable, and One was slowly being more convinced, he simply had a growing suspicion that was drastically different compared to him originally believing that Nine was turning against him.

After all, Nine had gone through all this effort, and was still stroking the fabric down over One's shoulders even though it was clearly already straightened. At this One turned to face the other Stitchpunk, "Nine, you are avoiding my question." He murmured and the younger looked away, "I guess I am… I don't know. I just felt like I needed to replace it." One's suspicions boomed at this and the male spoke, "That is very honorable of you, Nine. It is a very well made cape; surpasses its predecessor."

Then he decided that it was time to test and see if his suspicions were accurate or not. To do this, he stepped closer, and allowed his voice to lower. He could not deny that he would revel in doing this as he spoke, "I believe that, perhaps, I should attempt to return the favor." Nine was confused, but even more so when One took ahold of his shoulders and started to slowly pull him in. Then he moved forward and claimed his mouth with his own. Nine was clearly surprised, but One noticed that he didn't pull back. With that One knew why Nine had worked on the cape; he suspicions were confirmed.

Nine had some sort of romantic feelings for him, even if he didn't know what kind they were, but that was fine for One. He wouldn't deny that he came after Nine in particular for the same reason. Either way, suspicions were confirmed, and it was all worth following Nine down here. That's when One pulled back, leaving Nine dazed. "Let us return home." One insisted immediately to break the awkward silence and was pleased when Nine smiled a bit, "Yeah, let's."

They both suspected that this was the start of something new.

FIN

Mable: To Allyson, who has also requested; your request will be done soon. ^-^ Thanks for being so patient. Again, I hope everyone, including Mandy, enjoyed the fic!